NNPL researchers study how light can be used to control the electrical properties of Graphene

posted Jan 13, 2011, 12:19 AM by Hatef Sadeghi

Researchers from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) together with an international team of scientists have published a research into how light can be used to control the electrical properties of graphene. This research opens the door to highly sensitive graphene based electronic devices.

The researchers have revealed that when graphene is coated with light sensitive polymers, its unique electrical properties can be precisely controlled and therefore exploited. The polymers also protect the graphene from contamination. Light modified graphene chips have already been used at NPL in ultra precision experiments to measure the quantum of the electrical resistance.

In the future similar polymers could be used to effectively 'translate' information from their surroundings and influence how graphene behaves. According to NPL, this effect could be exploited to develop robust reliable sensors for smoke, poisonous gases, or any targeted molecule.